HIS Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Deputy Sultan, yesterday graced the presentation ceremony for The Crown Prince CIPTA Awards 2013 at the Rizqun International Hotel.

The Deputy Sultan was greeted upon arrival by Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Singamanteri Col (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar, Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office; Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman, Acting Minister of Education; Associate Professor Dr Dayang Hjh Zohrah binti Hj Sulaiman, Acting Vice Chancellor of Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB); and Deputy Chairman of the ITB Council; as well as Dato Paduka Dr Hj Zulkarnain bin Hj Hanafi, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education (Higher Education) and also the Vice Chancellor of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).

Associate Professor Dr Dyg Hjh Zohrah, in her capacity as the Co-Chairperson of CIPTA 2013, delivered her welcoming remarks, in which she highlighted, “ITB will continue to play a role in generating talent in creativity and innovation.

“This competition is a platform for individual and group talents to go on to the next level, which is to create a product that can penetrate the regional and international markets,” she continued.

Dr Dyg Hjh Zohrah went on to underline that the competition is hoped to have a positive impact on the efforts towards achieving Vision 2035 to make Brunei known to the world as a country of educated and skilled people.

This year saw 43 participants making it through to the final stages, of which 15 were under Category One for “Creating a New Product, Process or Technology”, while 12 fell under Category Two for the “Modifying of an Existing Product, Process or Technology”.

The remaining 16 participants were all under Category Three, “Creating New or Modifying an Existing Product, Process or Technology by Young Inventors”, which is a category open to students from Year Nine to 13.

Categories One and Two each carried the same prizes, with trophies for the top three places as well as cash prizes, with B$6,000 for first place, B$4,000 for second, B$2,000 for third, while B$500 and certificates were presented as consolation prizes.

The winner of Category One with a score of 84.8 per cent was a project called the “Stroke Meter”, a kit and method of detecting strokes by measuring and analysing the presence of an enzyme in a blood sample. The project was submitted by Fatima Shad Kaneez and Dr Hjh Fazean Irdayati binti Hj Idris.

Second place went to “Melayu Islam Beraja – Year 1”, a mobile app for children studying in Year One that was designed by Awang Hj Suhardi bin Hj Suhaimi and Dayang Hjh Rohana binti Hj Md Taha, which earned them a score of 80.5 per cent.

Third prize was won by the Electronic Solat Assistant (ESA), a device designed to assist newly-converted Muslims during their prayers. It was submitted by Awang Saifulbahri bin Hj Md Ja’afar, Awang Syed Bilal Hassan and Awang Hj Mohammad Adi Mukmin bin Hj Sarbini.

Meanwhile, in Category Two, Awang Azmi bin Haji Ja’afar and his father, Awang Haji Ja’afar bin Awang Besar emerged as winners with a score of 80.8 per cent for their ‘Incubator with Changeable Egg Tray (ICET)’ project.

The ICET is a modification of an existing incubator that allows for up to a hundred eggs to be moved, as is essential in the incubation process, all at once with one simple flick of a switch.

Second place with 76.2 per cent went to Awang Sufre bin Haji Muhammad for the “Smart Sensor Assisted Windshield Operation”, a project that opens windshields to a safe gap to allow hot air to be blown out from the passenger compartment when the temperature is over the threshold setting.

Third place was Pg Abd Raub bin Pg Hj Ghani’s project, the Motor-Light Jacket, which is a motorcycle jacket that lights up and increases road presence, thus enhancing the safety of motorcyclists at night.

A consolation prize was presented for GZup Paper Coding, which was submitted by Awang Hj Zupri bin Hj Kamis and Awang Aidee Suherman bin Hj Suhaili.

On the other hand, in Category Three, for the young inventors, the top three submissions won a trophy and cash prizes, specifically B$3,000 for first place, B$2,000 for second and B$1,000 for third, while the consolation prize was B$250 and a certificate.

All the prizes in this category went to students from Katok Sixth Form Centre, beginning with Mohammad Aminuddin bin Ariffin who went home with first prize, scoring 80 per cent with his invention, the “Multifunction Study Table”.

Aminuddin’s project is a table that tries to act as an all-in-one workstation, offering shelves, a workspace, power sockets and even USB ports.

Second place went to Muhammad Asnol Ariffin bin Hj Mustapa and Mohammad Khairi Waddien bin Hj Zainal Abidin who scored 76 per cent with their project, the ‘Jetty Bridge and Walkway Lamp’.

Third place went to Mohammad Khairol Mateen bin Haji Hashim for his project, ‘Study Table’, scoring 75 per cent.

A consolation prize went to the ‘Modern Bench’ product submitted by Lennard Chen, Martin Lim Zhi Han and Kelvin Foong Kong Wang.

The Grand Crown Prince CIPTA Award Trophy was not awarded this year as the minimum requirement to win it is to achieve at least 90 per cent – a score that none of the participants achieved..

Pengiran Dr Haji Saiful Baharin bin Pengiran Haji Duraman, Co-Chairperson of the CIPTA 2013 Technical Committee, said this yesterday while presenting a summary of the panel of judges’ overall appraisal of the entries and announced the winners.

He highlighted that while many of the projects were of a very high standard, the judges felt that none of the winners achieved a score that qualified them to win the prestigious grand prize.

HRH Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah later consented to receive a pesambah from the CIPTA 2013 organising committee, which was presented by Associate Professor Dr Dayang Hjh Zohrah.

Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Yahya bin Haji Ibrahim then read a Doa Selamat to bless the ceremony.

The Deputy Sultan then proceeded to officiate the opening of The Crown Prince CIPTA Award 2013 showcase, and consented to visit the booths and interacted with the winners and participants, all of whom exhibited their inventions.

CIPTA (Creative, Innovative Product and Technological Advancement) is a biennial competition that encourages innovation and creativity for national development.

This year’s CIPTA, carrying the theme of “Reaching an innovative society for a sustainable future”, is in its fifth edition since its inauguration in 2005, and was organised by ITB and Brunei LNG Sdn Bhd as partner and sponsor. - Borneo Bulletin (26 March 2013)